#televiewing

8. do you prefer week-to-week content, or just binging all in one go?

Ooh, so with more episodic shows, I really enjoy having the story stretched out week-to-week (and also being forced to have self-control with my TV watching.) It's like inviting a bunch of beloved friends into my house once a week. But with serialized shows I can get really impatient, and I also love that feeling when you watch a show for hours on end and the real world dissolves for a wee bit and gets replaced with this amazing fictional universe.

So it depends on the show and the viewing experience I'm looking for.

31. do you use subtitles while watching TV if you can?

Subtitles my beloved! Though it's a point of contention when I watch with my partner because he finds them distracting, so with shared shows, whoever is suffering more makes the final call.

34. what are your top 5 shows right now?

Lockwood & Co., Abbott Elementary, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Miss Scarlet and the Duke, and Shadow and Bone!

Thanks for the ask!

2. if you could have saved one TV show from cancellation, which one would it be?

On the one hand, the answer is JatP for obvious reasons. But honestly, aside from the Caleb cliffhanger which I always forget about because I never rewatch that scene because why would i subject myself to 1) nick 2) nick dropping by julie's house uninvited 3) nick's ridiculous head twist I'm satisfied with JatP as is. I would have loved more, but we can read the final hug scene as the boys coming back to life, like they were going to eventually anyways, and given how deus ex machina the magic hug is already, Willie also comes back to life because why not? Power of friendship! HEA!

So my actual answer has to be Pitch, because it was cut off after only ten amazing episodes on a horrible cliffhanger and there was so much story and character development left untold.

4. are there any shows you wish could just be cancelled already?

Not really, because if I think a show should be cancelled already, I'm probably not watching it anymore and its continued existence doesn't impact me. That being said, I always do a double take when I see how many seasons Grey's Anatomy has been running for because how.

5. what’s your comfort show?

Answered here!

9. what’s one show you thought you’d hate but turned out to really enjoy?

Normal People. I didn't like the first episode, and if my partner hadn't been into it, I would have stopped watching. I'm really glad I pushed through because it's such a beautiful love and character story, has one of my favorite ships of all time, and has some of my favorite episodes of television of all time.

So shoutout to my partner for seeing what I didn't in that first episode!

15. do you feel like there are any overrated TV show formats?

Not really, in that the word overrated always makes me feel like an obnoxious hipster judging people for liking something popular, and that's not really the vibe I'm aiming for in life.

That being said, I have a lot of ethical concerns with reality TV shows that make people without media training look like assholes on international TV and then send them back to their lives without properly supporting them. I wouldn't say that any particular reality format is overrated, but I really wish there was less production of reality TV shows until industries and audiences learned how to appropriately respond to and handle the real people whose lives are impacted by being on TV.

16. do you feel like there are any underrated TV show formats?

I don't know if underrated is the right word for this, but I feel like the multicamera sitcom is underappreciated as a televisual format. There's something about the way it translated a theatrical performance style to television to make use of live broadcasting that's kind of magical to me, and it's sad to me that the format has been delegitimized and associated mostly with cringey humor and laugh tracks.

... that being said, there are very few new multicam sitcoms that I enjoy because I find the humor cringey and I really dislike the ones that use laugh tracks, so I'm on the wrong side of my own argument, whoops.

30. what’s one show you could probably write a 2,000 word essay on, and what would be your topic?

Me, a media studies PhD student nervously eyeing my 80k+ thesis: welllll

Normally I'd say Buffy, but the thing I've been thinking about tonight is JatP and the way that people in fandom (particularly adults) were so quick to dismiss the label of children's show because they felt that that label 1) had a negative connotation, and 2) was at odds with the nuanced depiction of things like grief. I always get annoyed by the way people insist that a show is no longer a children's show if they think it's good, and then they complain that the remaining things they'll acknowledge as children's media are bad.

So a 2k rant about how JatP's use of tropes from children's media enabled it to tell a nuanced and powerful story about grief, because this scholar is fueled by spite.

(there is a correct answer to this my friend)

16. A TV show you wanted to watch this year but didn’t get the chance to.

Hahaha, LISTEN, I would say The Expanse even if you weren't the one asking.

17. Most Inspired Storyline?

I really love the storyline that gets brought to the forefront in "Wear It" where Ginny is like, "I'm the first woman in the majors. I can't just decide to do something else." In general, I love the way that the show explores the consequences of being turned into an Icon™, and the ways that Ginny's experience of being an icon are so interwoven with the way her dad raised her. It's a classic young adult "I'm finally free to figure out what parts of who I am at the moment actually fit with who I want to be," only with much higher stakes.

23. Best Performance in an Episode?

Kylie Bunbury in "Wear It" and MPG in "Unstoppable Forces and Unmovable Objects." I love the subtleties both of them bring to their respective episodes where their characters are having existential crises over their careers, and there's so much nuanced, unspoken craftwork that elevates their storylines in those episodes.

10. what’s one show you thought you’d love but turned out to really hate?

This is probably controversial on tumblr, but Derry Girls. Hate is a strong word--I just watched a couple episodes and didn't vibe with the characters--but every time I see gifsets, I'm like "that show looks so good!" and feel weirdly guilty for not liking it.

25. do you prefer proper opening credits, or a simple title card?

Opening credits, always. It feels like the creators telling viewers what they think the show is/what they want it to be. And I love the way that a good theme song can immediately put you in the mindset for a show, even if you haven't watched it in ages.

35. who are your top 5 TV characters right now?

Answered here!

39. do you prefer 22 episode seasons, or 13?

10-13. Longer seasons often drag for me, and shorter seasons feel underdeveloped. (I really wish JatP had an extra episode between 3 and 4, because we miss some time and crucial bonding, particularly for Julie's friendships with Alex and Reggie.)

That being said, I do love the amount of character development that some shows with 22 episode orders could slowly unravel over the course of a season. It really depends on the show and what they're trying to do with plot and character.

51. what’s one TV cliche you despise?

Drama based on miscommunication, especially when it's a miscommunication just because Character A gets angry and won't let Character B explain at first. Obviously, this is a real thing that happens in real life so it's not like miscommunications aren't realistic, but there are ways that it tends to get executed on TV where it feels purely like a plot device rather than something that's rooted in characters and their relationships.

(The flipside of this are shows like Normal People and Ted Lasso, who build up their miscommunications over the course of episodes and make them so rooted in those characters and relationships that, while as a viewer you're screaming at your children to JUST HAVE A HEALTHY CONVERSATION ALREADY, the miscommunications feel completely in-character and earned.)

21. if you could be a guest star on any show, which one would it be?

BBC Ghosts. The pure chaos of that show, please. I would be fired immediately because I can't act and couldn't keep a straight face, but the hilarity would be worth it.

24. how do you feel about bottle episodes?

Fucking love them. They're such great opportunities for smaller scale stories that focus on character drama and in-depth exploration. Like putting a microscope on a tiny slice of a character's journey.

35. who are your top 5 TV characters right now?

Oh no, this is impossible.

Amina Hussain (We Are Lady Parts)

Vi (Arcane)

The Priest (Fleabag)

Maeve Wiley (Sex Education)

Roy Kent (Ted Lasso)

36. what TV character would you die for?

There are so many on this list and naturally the only one who comes to mind at the moment is Chidi Anagonye (TGP), who doesn't need me to die for him.

3. have you ever quit a show before it finished? why?

So many times. I watch a lot of TV and if I stop vibing with the direction a show is taking, I'm not wasting my time on something that's not bringing me any joy. The most exaggerated example was The 100--I think I was maybe seven episodes from the end when I finally accepted that there was no way it was turning around in time for the finale.

11. which TV show has the best musical soundtrack, in your opinion?

Oooh. In terms of pure score, Outlander. Bear McCreary, please score everything. (Except the similarities between the Outlander score and the Black Sails score genuinely distract me, so please score everything slightly differently, sir.)

In terms of soundtrack, as random as it might sound, Suits. The music supervisor did incredible work and the blues rock sound really elevates the show.

22. if you could write your own TV show, what would it be like?

Basically all my pilot scripts were ensemble fantasy dramedies where found families tried to deal with the ethical consequences of whatever magic system they lived in and quipped their way through the pain.